Kamala Harris Addresses Biden’s Comment that Putin "Cannot Remain in Office”

Many interpreted Biden's comment as an attempt to create more tension between Russia and the US.

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Screenshot: MSNBC/The ReidOut (Fair Use)

Vice President Kamala Harris recently addressed the comments President Biden made rejecting Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, reported Business Insider. Biden’s comments caused concern about creating more tension between the US and Russia.

Harris spoke to Joy Reid on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” about Biden’s comments on his trip to Warsaw to strengthen US allyship with Europe in support of Ukraine, per Business Insider.

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“Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness. For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said.

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Harris cleared the air to confirm what Biden actually meant.

More on Harris’ response from Business Insider:

“Let me be very clear. We are not into regime change. And that is not our policy. Period,” she told Reid.

The vice president continued: “Our policy from the beginning has been about ensuring that there are going to be real costs exacted against Russia in the form of severe sanctions, which we know are having a real impact and an immediate impact, not to mention the longer-term impact, which is about saying there’s going to be consequence and accountability when you commit the kinds of atrocities that he is committing.”

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Biden confirmed in a press briefing on Monday that he did not regret the comment he made either. He said his comments were driven by “moral outrage” at the “brutality” on Putin’s actions, per Business Insider.

US Secretary Anthony Blinken also came to the president’s defense reiterating what Biden meant which was that Putin should not be “empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else,” per Business Insider.

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The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported over 1,300 Ukrainian citizens, including children, have died since the Russian invasion.